What it means to us, the TRAI mandate

Recently, the Indian telecom regulator TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) announced its decision on the issue of differential pricing for data services, after a month long consultation process which can be found in the PDF here. The regulation point blankly rules out differential pricing on Internet services, meaning every packet of data received by a mobile device or a computer from his/her service provider should be priced equally.

For example, if you download 10 MB file from your Goolge Drive or you download a 10 MB file using an FTP Client from your shared hosting, they need to take the same time to get downloaded onto your machine.

As a common man, what it means to you:

The entire internet is at your service for the amount you pay

You’ll no longer be deceived by dubious claims of free Facebook or free WhatsApp

Nobody can take advantage of your data to make money claiming free services (although there are other ways in which your data can be monetized with/without your permission)

As a budding developer, what it means to you:

You can still come up with the next Facebook – and if your app is kick-ass people are going to love it

You needn’t partner with any third party agency to setup your website or put your app in the market

The data you collect from your customers is your own – you needn’t give up user data for some cheesy benefits

As a start-up guy/girl, what it means to you:

Your apps have the same playing field as that of Facebook, Uber, etc

There is no bias in how users perceive your app unless you want them to

Principle of net neutrality is upheld, which ensures that no other app can have more preference over yours and your app may well go on to be one of the world’s best

Good times ahead, thanks for each one of you who contributed to this victory!